If you can't play it on an acoustic guitar or a grand piano then it's not a song.

I'm a very private, very reclusive kind of guy.

The writers that I aspire to, like Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman, they'll tell you that the work gets harder, not easier. And they set that bar for us where we're always striving to do something better than the last time, whether it's the next song or just the next line.

Well, it's not far down to paradise, at least it's not for me And if the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility.

People say, 'How's the record doing?' In the old days you'd say, 'We're at 600,000, it's doing great.' You don't say those things anymore. Those numbers are gone.

I think MTV put a huge dent in the songwriting craft.

You just want to hone your craft, whatever it may be.